Pokkén Tournament review

At the heart of Pokkn Tournament’s battle system is a change in perspective. To fully appreciate it, I needed to adjust my own.

There are two modes of combat at the heart of Bandai Namco’s melding of Tekken’s crunchy pugilism and the Pokmon franchise. You start in Field Phase, with the camera positioned up and over the shoulder of your Pokmon. You’re given full 3D movement, though certain attacks will move the battle into Duel Phase, which resembles a more traditional one-on-one fighter. Now you’re scrapping on a 2D plane, with damage scaling upward. Here, too, certain attacks will cause a shift, returning you to Field Phase.

Naturally, there’s the now customary levelling system, with XP allowing you to bolster your chosen monster’s attack or defence stats, or to increase the speed and efficacy of their synergy and support powers. Even in defeat you’ll often unlock new titles and clothes to customise your avatar, though this is scant compensation unless you’re particularly fond of orange fluffy mufflers. As outlandish as some of the outfits are, they’re nothing on the wonderfully barmy trainer comments, which range from “Hold up – don’t get all panicky!” to “Aren’t Lucario’s paws adorable?” and my personal favourite, “Move Maker is my middle name.”

There’s something charming, too, about its keenness to maintain a consistent fiction. Like the anime, Pokkn takes a few minor liberties with the series lore, but some of the detail will wow serious Pok-nerds. Take Chandelure’s Overheat, for example. In the RPGs, it deals damage, while lowering its own special attack stat by two stages; here, it’s been reworked to resist hitstun, while inflicting two negative status effects on itself. And in the background of the Tellur Town stage you’ll see a cyclist riding around followed closely by a Volcarona, which fans will know is a tactic used to speed up the hatching of Pokmon eggs. It’s the kind of touch that reveals Pokkn’s main goal. It is, of course, trying to be a great one-on-one fighter, but it’s equally concerned with being a great Pokmon game.

For my money, it’s a triumph on both counts, though the wider market might take some convincing. A stumbling debut in Japanese arcades – in part thanks to a more limited roster, and a rather generous playtime per credit – has earned it an undeservedly negative reputation ahead of its console release. Whether it will reach a large enough audience on Wii U to repair its standing remains to be seen, but Pokkn Tournament has earned the right to be re-examined from a fresh angle.